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Background   
Common Midas Concepts   
   + Version Numbering   
   + Basic Features   
   - Data Types   
      - Data Formats   
         - Types   
         - Modes   
         - Elements   
      - Compound Types   
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Getting Started - Part 1   
Getting Started - Part 2   
Working with Files   
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Macros - Part 2 (Graphics)   
NetBeans - Part 1 (Setup)   
NetBeans - Part 2 (GUIs)   
NetBeans - Part 3 (Profiler)   
Eclipse - Part 1 (Setup)   
Eclipse - Part 2 (GUIs)   
Primitives   
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X-Midas Interoperability   
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Installing NeXtMidas   
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File Handlers   


  • Elements
    • Remember, an element type is specified using a two-character digraph.
      • The first character is the mode (S,C,V,...).
      • The second character is the type (D,F,L,...).
    • There are also two special digraphs NH (Non-Homogeneous) and KW (KeyWords).
      • These are used to indicate the absence of an elemental type.
      • While rarely used, they will appear in documentation and in some classes of Midas Blue File.
    • Examples:
      SL (Scalar Long)
      A single 32-bit long integer.
      CF (Complex Float)
      Two single-precision floating point numbers.
      Likely a complex (Real,Imag) number.
      VD (Vector Double)
      Three double-precision floating point numbers.
      Likely a geodetic position (Lat,Lon,Alt) or (Alt,Lat,Lon).
      4A (4 Ascii)
      Four adjacent blocks of 8 ASCII characters.
      This represents a string of up to 32 (4*8) characters.
      Most frameworks automatically trim off trailing spaces from an ASCII string.
    • Less Common Examples:
      2F (Two Float)
      Same meaning as CF, but rarely used.
      Most users avoid using the generic multipliers with numeric types.
      CA (Complex Ascii)
      Same meaning as 2A, but rarely used.
      Usually the generic multipliers are used when working with ASCII values.
Java Experts Take Note:
The ASCII strings are stored as Fortran strings. A Fortran string is a fixed size array of 8-bit ASCII characters that is padded with spaces to fit the alloted size. This differs from C strings which are null-terminated and Java strings which are variable-sized and use 16-bit UNICODE characters.